At Turnberry Custom Homes, the number one way we gain clients is through referrals, or to put it simply, word of mouth. When people choose to build or renovate their home, they are making a huge investment that affects their daily life. They want to see your work for themselves, read reviews or hear the quality of your work before they trust you with their savings and their home.

The best way to gain referrals from clients and subcontractors is to do quality work and build real, meaningful relationships that don’t end when the project is over. Here are some tips to keep your relationships going strong with clients and subcontractors.

Building & Maintaining Rapport with Your Clients to Grow Your Business

Build genuine relationships with your clients. Building a rapport with your clients will lead them talk about you to their friends and family and may lead to future referrals. Let your clients know how they can help and make it as easy as possible for them to refer you.

Tips to Keep in Mind While You’re Building:

• Stay in constant contact with your clients. Be easily accessible via phone or email and set up a time to meet in person and walk through their home with them at least once a week.
• Upon permission, let potential clients come into one of your current client’s home for a walk-through. Your current client can tell them about their experience building with you and answer any questions they may have. This is most effective closer to the end of a project, when clients can see the quality work you have done.
• Ask about your client’s friends and family members. Are any of them thinking about renovating? Is your client’s project inspiring them to work on their own home? Let your client know you are interested in working with their friends and family members in their projects as well.

Tips to Keep in Mind When the Project is Complete:

• Ask your clients to write reviews about their experience. Email them a list of links to your profile on the top 5 or top 10 websites where your business is or should be reviewed, such as Facebook, Houzz, Guild Quality, etc.
• If you built a new construction home, consider catering an open house party for your client’s friends and family after your client is settled in. This will give you a chance to reconnect, have fun and build connections. Upon your client’s permission, you can casually place brochures or photo albums of your work throughout their home during the event that their guests can look at.
• Touch base with your clients every now and then to ask how things are going (email, phone call, text, etc.)
• Send out holiday cards to your clients.

Building & Maintaining Rapport with Your Subcontractors to Grow Your Business

Working with subcontractors should not be a one-way street. Builders frequently provide subcontractors with jobs in larger-scale projects, but these subcontractors can refer clients to you as well. For example, a client looking to replace their countertops may also be thinking about renovating their entire kitchen or home, and you want your subcontractor to refer your company name when this happens.

Tips to Gain More Referrals with Your Subcontractors

• Talk to your subcontractors and build genuine relationships. Find out what their hobbies are and do something outside of working hours, such as going out to dinner or playing golf.
• Refer subcontractors who you know do quality work for jobs. Make it publicly known that you’re collaborating with them by staying active on social media. Tag them in posts on Facebook or add them to Pinterest boards so their friends and followers will see your company name and have easy access to your profile and vice versa.
• Let subcontractors know you are giving them referrals and that you are interested in gaining referrals from them. Make it as easy as possible for them to refer clients to you by regularly providing them with business cards and/or brochures to hand their clients.

Turnberry Custom Homes in Reading, PA specializes in new construction, renovations/additions and commercial fit outs. We serve Berks, Montgomery, Chester and surrounding counties.